HCAI’s Fall System Release 3.34 will go live on Monday, November 3, 2025. This bulletin contains important information and timelines to help you prepare for the upcoming release.
Here’s what you need to know about Release 3.34:
Release 3.34 will not be an integration-impacting release. There are no changes to the HCAI PMS Toolkit and after the release goes live, the existing version of the vendor package will remain in use. We strongly recommend conducting comprehensive regression testing of your systems during the official testing period to ensure a seamless transition when HCAI Release 3.34 goes live in production. Details regarding the test environment will be provided closer to the start of the official testing phase.
Here are some dates to help you prepare:
August 15, 2025 – Release 3.33 test data copied over to Release 3.34 test environment
August 25, 2025 – September 26, 2025 – PMS official testing period
September 2025 – Two separately scheduled maintenance outages will occur in production (exact dates will be provided separately)
October 31, 2025 – November 3, 2025 – Production outage for Release 3.34 implementation
November 3, 2025 – Release 3.34 Go Live date
Test Environment Data Backup & Outage Dates
On Friday, August 15, 2025, the test data from the current Release 3.33 test environment will be copied for use in the upcoming Release 3.34 test environment. Please note that any test data created in Release 3.33 after this date will not be carried over to the Release 3.34 test environment.
To accommodate the above, the HCAI Release 3.33 Test Environment will be unavailable from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, August 15, 2025.
Production System Outage
An HCAI outage is needed before every new system release to implement the changes. In preparation for Release 3.34, the following system unavailability window is planned:
Friday, October 31 – Monday, November 3, 2025
The HCAI system will be unavailable from 5:00 p.m. (ET) on Friday, October 31, 2025, and is expected to resume active status at 8:00 a.m. (ET) on Monday November 3, 2025.
Every facility must have their transactions successfully processed by 4:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday, October 31, 2025.
During this time, the HCAI System Status on HCAIinfo will indicate red, with the message "Scheduled system release implementation underway." Visitors to HCAI will be unable to sign in, and will instead be presented with a generic, web browser-generated message indicating that the webpage is unavailable.
Other Important Reminders
1. Attendant Care Services Invoice (ACSI) – Post-Go-Live Updates
As part of the May 12, 2025 release, the Attendant Care Services Invoice (ACSI) was launched in HCAI on a pilot basis. Since then, facilities with Personal Support Workers have been submitting the form in HCAI via both the web portal and the PMS integration channel.
Facilities delivering personal support services may wish to leverage PMS functionalities, including the submission of ACSI forms and the retrieval of data extracts. Personal Support Worker (PSW) was also introduced as a new profession code in HCAI to support ACSI implementation. To set up providers with this new profession code, facilities may also want to make use of the existing PMS functionalities - such as ‘Add Provider’ or ‘Update Provider’. Accordingly, PMS vendors are encouraged to assess and implement the new ACSI form within their systems, if it has not already been done.
All relevant details regarding this form were included in the PMS vendor package distributed as part of Release 3.33. If you require more information, please contact PMS Vendor Support (PMSVendorSupport@hcaiinfo.ca).
2. Data Retention – Effective July 2025
Please be advised that data deletion activity commenced in July 2025. All documents associated with claims that have been deactivated in the HCAI system for seven years or more are now eligible for deletion and will be removed accordingly. Please note that once data is deleted from the HCAI system, it cannot be restored.
This process began in production with the deletion of old drafts and void documents. Deletion of other eligible documents is scheduled to begin in Fall 2025.
Additionally, the HCAI test environment, which mirrors the production environment, will also undergo data deletion in accordance with the business rules established for production.
What’s Next?
Prepare to regression test your systems as soon as the Release 3.34 test environment becomes available.
Visit the modernized HCAIinfo today to explore our step-by-step training resources and find the answers you need.
